


Then we help each other escape

by traumaesistenziale



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: 3x19, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Canon Rewrite, Denial, Feelings Realization, M/M, Making Out, Old Feelings, Saving Each Other, Season 3, complicated feelings, s03e19, working together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-12
Updated: 2019-05-12
Packaged: 2020-03-01 14:36:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18802306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/traumaesistenziale/pseuds/traumaesistenziale
Summary: Set in s03e19. Edward and Oswald agree to help each other get out of the cages, but working together brings up some old complicated feelings. They might or might not end up making out (they do, they 100% do make out)."Maybe it was the adrenaline rush that still hadn't died down. Maybe it had been their moments of closeness while they were still in there, and Edward's brain screamed at him that this was a bad idea for a number of reasons – such as the fact that they weren't safe from the Court yet and they needed to get as far away as possible, or the fact that his next action would have consequences that even he with all of his smarts couldn't predict.Maybe all of this had awaken emotions in him that he had no control over at the moment, or maybe it was deeper than that, maybe what had been awaken were his real feelings that he had been either too scared or too proud to admit.Whichever of these was the truth, it didn't change what happened next."





	Then we help each other escape

**Author's Note:**

> I've been meaning to write this ever since i watched that episode, which was several months ago now.
> 
> The premise is really simple. Feelings are complicated and these two fools can't deny their attraction to each other, and no amount of attempted murders can change that.

Oswald had found himself in a cage, detained next to Edward. It was the first time they had seen each other since Ed had shot him. It clearly had been a shock to Ed to find out he was still alive.

There was a lot going on in Edward's mind. That in front of him, that was the man he once called his best friend, the man who had betrayed him and the man he thought he had killed, a man he wanted dead. It had been a shock to see him alive, it almost made him question his sanity. His first instincts had been to slap him, after all. He had had to make sure he wasn't an hallucination.

Now that he was sure, there was something else. He almost felt relieved at first, but then he realized he had been basing his entire new identity on the fact that he had killed Oswald, except as it turns out, he hadn't. Not yet. So now all he could think about is how he was going to do that, because he had to. He couldn't help but let other feelings get mingled in there too, like a quiet voice in his mind saying that he had missed him, whispering that he looked surprisingly handsome for someone who was supposed to be dead.

Ed reacted to these thoughts by externally fighting them off, verbally attacking Oswald.

«You are making your blade too thin. It's gonna snap off when you try to stab me.» he mocked him. That sounded like a good start, he thought.

«We'll soon find out, won't we, Edward?»

Oswald didn't seem to respond as strongly as Ed had been hoping, which he found disappointing. On top of that, he still refused to address him as _Riddler_ , which he found infuriatingly annoying and disrespectful.

«I told you not to call me that.»

At that, Oswald finally stopped torturing that poor blade, and turned his face to him, watching him from his sitting position on the floor.

«What? Edward? But that's your name... _Edward_.»

Oswald watched him, studying his reaction. Ed frowned.

«Edward Edward Edward Edward Edward Edward Edward Ed-»

«Enough!» the Riddler shouted. He couldn't believe how childish Oswald could get sometimes. And yet, he had to admit, he had gotten to him, which was the most infuriating part. This was so stupid.

«You are pathetic, you know that? At least I'm in here because I was trying to figure out who runs Gotham. You are here because, what? I didn't love you back?»

Ed said that last sentence in a mocking tone. He saw Oswald smile at his attempt to hurt him, which inadvertently assured him that said attempt had worked.

Still, it didn't really feel as satisfying as Ed had hoped.

«Get over it.» he added, before turning away. Why wasn't it satisfying?

Oswald watched Edward turn his back to him and walk away, to the opposite side of his cage. He stood up. He straightened his overall, trying to make himself look more authoritative and so more believable.

«No. You did not love me back.»

It hurt to say that, more than it should have. Oswald thought by now, with all the vitriol flowing between them, that he would be over it right now. He begun to realize just how wrong he was, but he couldn't show it.

«But that's not why I'm here.»

With this, he piqued Ed's attention, apparently, because he turned around to face him again.

«I'm here because you destroyed the empire I built. I'm here because you shot me.»

Ed huffed out an amused sound at that recollection.

Oswald forced himself to ignore his little smug smile and continued.

«And no one does what you did and lives.»

«Good luck exacting revenge... _when I'm gone_.»

«Oh, please. Make one move to escape and I'll call the guards.»

Maybe he wasn't getting out of there any time soon, but he wouldn't let Ed have that chance either – he thought while he walked over to his tray to take a sip of coffee.

«Ah, I assumed this much... which is why I bribed the guard to poison your coffee.» Ed said casually, watching Oswald's reaction.

As expected, Oswald immediately spat it out.

Edward laughed at that reaction.

«You are lying!» Oswald exclaimed accusingly.

«Yes, I am. But, I did steal a dart from the guard a couple days ago-» Ed begun, while ripping a piece of a newspaper to make a small tube out of it, «-I was planning on using it on the guard, but...»

Ed shot Oswald with the dart, hitting him in his neck.

«Ow!» Oswald yelled, sounding almost offended by that action.

Edward bursted out laughing, while he watched Oswald rip off the dart from his skin and throw it aside, and glare at him, furious.

«You are gonna have to do way better that tha-»

Oswald begun, but the sedative started to affect him. Ed watched him for a moment while he stumbled to the floor, but then he didn't waste time, and quickly got to work to open the lock of his cage.

Oswald was upset and definitely indisposed, but he refused to give up. He refused to give Ed a head-start. He struggled, but crawled his way there, and managed to grab the tray and started making noise with it, banging it on the floor, alerting the guards, just before passing out.

When he woke up, he was relieved to see Ed was still there, it meant he had succeeded – he thought, smugly.

Yet, he wasn't entirely happy. His head hurt, and he was laying on the floor, which wasn't exactly comfortable.

Ed noticed him finally waking up, and he moved towards where their cages touched and he slapped the bars with the newspaper in his hands, indignantly.

«My lock-pick got confiscated! Now we are, _both_ , stuck in this unnaturally damp hellhole. I hope you are happy.»

Oswald sat up in the meantime. He had to ask himself the same question. Was he? Had he been able to feel happy, ever since all of that had gone down, ever since them at the pier, and Ed's cold glare as he threw him in the water without a second thought, right after shooting him? Oswald was forced to admit to himself that nothing about their whole situation made him happy, but he forced himself to lie.

«Did the guards club you?» he asked, resting his head against the bars. Again, not the most comfortable position, but the best he could do at the moment, until he recovered.

Ed replied quietly, without even looking at him. Oswald could tell he was upset.

«You know they did.»

«Then I'm happy.»

There it was. The lie. He didn't sound happy, and he didn't look happy. Which was just right, because he didn't feel happy either.

He wished his old friend hadn't had to go through that, he wished he hadn't had to do that to him, he wished there was another way, another choice for them. But he knew it was too late, they had hurt each other far too deeply. If Ed wanted to kill him, Oswald had to kill him first, it didn't matter what he truly wanted. Besides, he needed to prove that no one could do what Ed had done to him and survive for long. It was a matter of principle.

Although, they both knew this by now, there was only one way they were ever gonna get out of there. He wasn't sure what the Court meant to do with them, and he didn't know about Ed, but he wasn't really eager to sit there and find out.

So when Oswald proposed a truce, they both agreed that would be their best option.

«You wanna kill me, I wanna kill you. Being locked up in these cages does neither of us any good. We have to escape.»

«There's only one way that's gonna happen.»

Of course, Edward knew this. They both knew this.

«We work _together_.» Oswald helpfully supplied.

They had to establish some rules, such as not killing each other until they had gotten out of there, and then, Edward added, not yet for another six hours at least.

The way he put it, it would be hard for him to concentrate while constantly worrying about Oswald stabbing him in the neck.

«Then we help each other escape. _Together_. So that we may be free to murder each other, outside.»

Edward almost hesitated saying the word “together”. He refused to think about why it was that it stung so much to think about, and he got his brain to work on their next step.

Coming up with the plan was easy – they had to work with what they had – and so was executing it.

Oswald started screaming, while Ed held him by the neck. It took enormous amounts of trust to deliberately put his life so literally in his hands, but in that moment he told himself he had no choice – the reality was that his old self still trusted Ed, deep down, somewhere. Regardless, this was still a leap of fate, one that paid off, because the next second, the guards were rushing in to stop them from fighting, and Edward fake-slit his throat, just as planned. Oswald let himself fall to the ground, wheezing and coughing dramatically, grasping at his own throat with a hand covered in red jello, before remaining completely still.

Ed easily got rid of the other guard, then watched the scene. Oswald suddenly jolted alive and grabbed the man crouching over him.

«Surprise!»

He stood up, forcing the man to stand up with him, then unceremoniously slit his throat open.

Ed couldn't help but let out a short little laugh at that sight. He didn't want to admit he felt proud, or even impressed, but he was certainly entertained.

Oswald quickly got out of his cage and hurried to free Ed as well.

«Your death scene was quite convincing.»

Edward commented, hoping he would sound at the very least a bit sarcastic. He didn't want to concede even an inch of praise to Oswald, but he couldn't help himself. After all, if it hadn't been as convincing, their plan might have failed.

Oswald hurried with the lock and opened the door.

«Yes, well. I've had some practice, haven't I?» he sarcastically remarked.

They stared at each other for just a moment longer. They weren't sure if they were gonna kill each other there and then, but they had said “no murder on the premises”, and they still needed to get out of there, so, to their respective relief, they both quickly choose to move on.

When they exited the room with the cages, they realized soon enough that the building they were in might as well have been a goddamned maze. It was tough to know where to go, and it took them a while to find their way out. Also, they needed to be extra careful because more Court guards were walking down those hallways, and by now they had probably realized what happened and they would be looking for them.

At some point, they were about to turn a corner, but Ed pulled Oswald back, rudely slamming him against the wall and pressing his own body against his, to make themselves smaller. Oswald was about to comment, probably complain, and Ed was surprised to realize he could already tell Oswald's tone before he even spoke – he knew him too well. But he had no time for his whining right now, so he put one hand on his mouth to shut him up. Oswald frowned and grunted, but then froze. A moment later, two guards walked past them down the nearby corridor, and Oswald shut up, realizing the reason for all of this. When the guards were gone and far away enough, Ed finally let go of Oswald, who took a deep breath. They both did, actually. Ed had been holding his breath too, just out of sheer anxiety that they would be discovered. Luckily they weren't, and now they could focus on their escape again. Ed realized he was still impossibly close to Oswald, and he saw the way Oswald was looking at him, and he chose to ignore it, hastily pulling away and telling him to follow him. Oswald forced himself to stay focused and not let ideas get to his head. He knew this was just a momentary truce, they were working together out of necessity, he tried not to delude himself that Ed actually cared about him.

Then, after they had turned a few corners, they heard footsteps behind them and they had no time to hide this time, so they were forced to fight.

Edward dodged an attack, but he was hit immediately after. Oswald launched forward, attacking first and he landed a blow, but he got hit too and disarmed. The guard tried to use his gun to shoot a dart, but Oswald managed to disarm him in time. In the meantime, Ed, who had disarmed the other guard as well, he was currently being overpowered. The guard had him in a hold and wouldn't let go of him, no matter how much Ed hit him wherever and however he could, he could feel himself choke and he knew he was gonna pass out soon.

He faintly heard Oswald shout “Ed!” before he was finally released.

Oswald had noticed his predicament and he had freed himself in time to launch himself across the floor and grab one of the guns, and he had immediately shot a dart at the guard holding Ed, who, slowly at first, let go and then tumbled to the floor.

Ed coughed and gasped for air, frowning, still in pain and dizzy from the lack of oxygen, but he looked at Oswald. He was on the floor and for some reason he was smiling, looking smug about his move, but Ed had to admit to himself that he had to thank him. It was not over yet, because before Oswald could get up, the guard who was still awake had gotten up and he attacked Oswald, wrestling him to the ground again. Oswald yelled in his face, out of sheer rage, or in an attempt to be intimidating, Ed wasn't sure and he wasn't sure Oswald knew either, but either way, the man hit Oswald. His face was bleeding now. Ed thought quick enough, and he glanced at the passed out guard on the floor by his feet and he saw his gun. He grabbed it and before even thinking, he shot the guard currently beating up Oswald. A gunshot resonated within the walls of the hallway. Oh. Ed realized, that one was an actual gun. He hadn't had had the time to examine it, he had just taken it and pulled the trigger. The guard flopped to the floor. Oswald remained still, with his hands still in the air like when he had been busy hitting back and blocking the punches. He exhaled deeply, then let out a laugh. Ed's shoulders dropped in relief and he sighed. He dropped the gun and walked over to Oswald, offering a hand.

Oswald, sitting on the floor, was already in the process of standing up on his own, but he saw the hand and he stared at it for a moment, then looked up at Edward.

«Hurry up, we don't have much time before we run into more of them.»

Oswald took his hand and let himself be helped up to his feet. Once he was standing again, they were face to face, and they were standing closer than both of them had realized, until now. Ed nervously cleared his throat and he turned away, urging Oswald to follow him and not just stand there. The moment was ruined, but Oswald couldn't help but let those little pesky feelings get the better of him again, and he just had to wonder. Was this really about their truce, or was there something more? Ed had sworn he wouldn't kill him, but he had never said anything about stopping someone else from killing him. Oswald told himself that he had only done that because he wanted to be the one to kill him, and besides, they had sworn they were gonna help each other get out of there alive, so that had to explain it. It really was about the truce, after all. Oswald was forced to consider that he would have done the same, in fact, he wasn't one to talk, considering how he had panicked when he had seen Ed being in such immediate danger. Which forced him to face another fact too. He hadn't just done it because if someone would get to kill Ed, that should be him. That was the lie he'd been telling himself, but he had to admit in that moment that he had had no time to think such complex thoughts. He had seen Ed in danger and the most primal part of his brain had taken over, making him spring into action. It had been the most basic instinct of protection. He couldn't have helped himself if he had tried. He tried to swallow this down and not to dwell too much on it. He knew Ed didn't feel the same.

Ed walked faster and faster as they approached the big metal door in front of them. That had to be the exit, finally. Ed couldn't wait to get out of there as soon as possible. That place was too dangerous. Not just because of god-knows-what the Court might be up to and what they might do to them if they managed to stop them from running, not just because of the guards that might still be in there looking for the two fugitives, but because of the feelings that working alongside Oswald again had brought back to the surface.

He couldn't bear to think about that right now. He should have been concerned about other things, such as the fact that he never discovered what exactly Katherine was up to, or coming up with a new elaborate plan to get rid of Oswald, and instead he couldn't stop thinking about... no. Enough. He was going to stop thinking about how he had panicked when he had seen Oswald being beaten by some random guy. He tried to convince himself that that was just... see, he was about to say jealousy there, but that just sounded worse. What he meant was... he was _jealous_... that _someone else_ was getting to punish Oswald, to inflict pain on him. Yes, this was what that was all about. He wished to hurt him himself, so he couldn't just let some rando take his prize from right under his nose. It wasn't like his stomach had gotten tied up in knots when he had seen Oswald's bloodied face and he had heard him grunt in pain.

Anyway, after throwing themselves with all of their strength at the door a few times, it finally seemed to budge and it swung open. They rushed outside, eager to feel the fresh night air on their sweaty, bloodied, sticky skin. It felt like a balm, after the adrenaline pumping through their veins while they ran through those claustrophobic corridors.

They finally noticed a small group of homeless people staring at them. Oswald, still holding his knife, screamed at them to scare them off. Ed had to hold back laughter at that scene. Maybe he was just too tired after all of that, but it seemed pretty funny, all considered.

When Oswald turned back to him, Ed saw the look on his face, and got serious again.

«Our agreement still holds for five hours.»

Edward reminded him. Oswald's breath was still uneven after the effort.

«I'm aware.»

Oswald seemed hesitant to let go of his knife, glancing nervously at Ed to study his movements, but then Edward stretched out his arm holding the crowbar he had picked up along the way, telling him with just a look what his intentions were. This was a leap of faith on Ed's part too. Oswald could have been quick enough and stab him right now, but Oswald copied his movement instead, and they shared a look of agreement. Both objects were dropped at once, the metal clanging on the asphalt, while they stared at each other.

Maybe it was the adrenaline rush that still hadn't died down. Maybe it had been their moments of closeness while they were still in there, and Edward's brain screamed at him that this was a bad idea for a number of reasons – such as the fact that they weren't safe from the Court yet and they needed to get as far away as possible, or the fact that his next action would have consequences that even he with all of his smarts couldn't predict.

Maybe all of this had awaken emotions in him that he had no control over at the moment, or maybe it was deeper than that, maybe what had been awaken were his real feelings that he had been either too scared or too proud to admit.

Whichever of these was the truth, it didn't change what happened next.

Ed reached for the collar of Oswald's suit and he pulled him closer. Oswald's first instinct was to fight, and he immediately clawed at his arm to get him to let go, but he didn't shy away from staring right back at him.

«How do you expect to win, Oswald?»

As Ed spoke, Oswald grimaced at the question.

«Barbara Kean runs the underworld, we have the gangs, you have... _yourself_.»

Ed laughed, his breath crashing against Oswald's skin.

Oswald suddenly smiled confidently, which made no sense to Edward.

«Actually, I have an army of Hugo Strange's monsters at my command.»

Ed was shocked by that new information, but he guessed he shouldn't have been surprised. Oswald always managed to do that. Surprise him. Even if oftentimes in unpleasant ways, like this time.

He had meant to intimidate Oswald, but right now, as the man in his grasp held up that smug smile, when he didn't pull back at all, but instead stood even closer, Ed found out his tactic had backfired in more than one way. He was the one feeling somewhat intimidated, for starters.

«But, even if I were alone... you wouldn't stand a chance.»

Oswald sounded so confident. And Ed knew he probably wasn't even bluffing, he most likely had reasons to be. He liked it so much when he sounded like that. Which... wasn't good at all. He wasn't supposed to like this. He felt it, he had known this was where this was going, but he still felt surprised, now realizing all of sudden how physically close they had gotten.

He glanced down at his lips, very quickly, but it was enough for Oswald to notice.

«I suppose we'll see.»

As the distance between them diminished, they both continued to look at each other in the eyes with a slight frown and distrust, a look telling the other not to do anything brash or he would regret it. Oswald wasn't sure what was happening, and he would have lied if he had said he wasn't scared, but something about Ed's demeanor, or maybe just something about being able to be so close to him again, no matter the reason, stopped him from actively fighting whatever it was that Ed was doing,

Then, Oswald found Ed's lips on his, and before he could begin to think rationally about all the reasons that this was probably bad, and all the reasons why this didn't make any sense, and why he should probably be concerned, he closed his eyes and he found himself grasping at Ed's clothes and desperately clinging to them, trying to bring him closer, or to prevent him from getting away. Either way, he let himself be kissed, then more that that, he kissed back. He pushed into the kiss, their noses messily pressed against each other. He put just the smallest possible distance between them, just enough to draw a deep breath and exhale against each other's faces, then it wasn't clear which of them decided to deepen that kiss first, but before Oswald could realize, they already had gotten their tongues in each other's mouths.

Oswald moved his hands to Ed's face, grabbing the sides of it as if his life depended on it, pushing their faces closer and frantically stroking his cheekbones with his thumbs and the back of his head with his fingertips.

Ed had wrapped an arm around Oswald's waist and pulled him even closer, until their bodies were pressed together, and then some more. He stroked Oswald's back with both of his palms, like he couldn't get enough of this.

The position begun to feel a little uncomfortable, and Oswald switched his weight from one leg to the other, to give his bad leg some relief. He didn't speak, he barely moaned against Ed's mouth when Ed angled his head differently to adjust to the change, but somehow Edward seemed to understand, and before he could do anything about it, Oswald found himself with his back pressed against a wall. He wasn't even sure where he was or what was happening around them, but he didn't care.

To make things even easier on his leg, Ed seemed to read his mind and he passed one hand down the side of his thigh, prompting him to lift his leg up, then, both of Ed's hands moved right under his ass, and with a surprisingly gentle push, he helped him lift himself up. He wrapped both his legs around Ed's waist now, and Ed kept him safely pinned to the wall, so he wouldn't fall. Not that Oswald was worried about that. Inexplicably, he felt horribly safe in that moment.

Any reasonable person in their right mind would have found something strange, possibly suspicious, or even just confusing about this, but neither of them seemed to care about that.

He didn't really do this consciously, but in his attempt to find a more comfortable position, or just to get even closer to Edward, as if that were possible, Oswald wiggled his back a little, and in doing so, he ended up grinding against Ed.

Edward immediately felt the pressure and the sheer everything-ness of it all hit him all at once in an almost overwhelming way. As if he hadn't realized what he had been doing until now, as if he hadn't realized who the man he was kissing was, and as if this whole situation could have been considered normal by any standards, in general. He involuntarily let out a gasp.

«Fuck.»

He whispered against Oswald's lips. He had pulled back enough that when they both opened their eyes they could look at each other comfortably.

Ed dived into those wide blue eyes before his, which were looking back at him with such emotion, hope, confusion, and maybe just a dash of fear. And now it really hit him. Shit. _Fuck_. This wasn't good. He was supposed to be trying to kill this man, _not try to..._

They heard faint voices in the distance and quick and heavy footsteps resonating from within the walls of the maze they had just escaped. Ed realized they were finally catching up with them and they had to hurry and get the hell out of there as soon as possible before they could actually reach them.

He hesitated and grimaced, brow furrowing deeply in confusion, suddenly caught in doubt.

«... _Fuck_.» he repeated even quieter than before, but somewhat more forcefully.

He wished he had the time to unpack all of this, but now neither of them really did.

Oswald looked surprised when Ed put him down and stepped away, but not for too long. From his expression, Ed could tell that he had heard them too. And yet, Oswald's expression still didn't mirror his. He was still looking at him wide-eyed, almost as if in awe, mixed with the fair dose of confusion and something else. Oswald knew what it was. It was regret. It was him wishing they had done this in a different situation where they could actually explore it more carefully, wishing it didn't have to be so rushed. Oswald sighed and frowned just a little, finally coming to his senses and fully realizing the extent of their situation. They had to run, fast.

Ed seemed to catch on, and they looked at each other for just a moment longer, before nodding.

Then, both of them started walking, but they stopped in their tracks when they realized they were walking in different directions. They stopped to turn around and look at each other.

The voices and footsteps were getting closer. Any minute now the guards would turn the last corner and run the final stretch, and then they would have to fight for their freedom or possibly their lives. The reality of this felt really heavy on both of their sets of shoulders, even if it wasn't clear to either of them to what extent to other felt this weight.

Oswald's shoulders dropped, as he realized that this was going to happen. He had no way to stop it. They had to get away, safety first. There was no time to talk about what just happened right now, they would have to reconvey at a later moment, another location, hoping that Ed wouldn't have the time to change his mind or find some convoluted backwards line of reasoning to rationalize and excuse his behavior and dismiss all of this with some absolutely ridiculous explanation. All wrapped up in logic and stone cold reasoning, of course. Oswald grimaced, already worrying about this.

Edward stared at him with an almost blank expression, aside from his wide brown eyes and his slightly open mouth – which could betray just a bit of hesitation, confusion, or even frustration. This time it was his turn to look completely lost. He had been forcibly taken and put back into his body from the previous experience, and his mind was only just now catching up with the implications of all of this. It would be hard to reason his way out of this one, this time. But regardless, the footsteps approached inexorable. Ed swallowed hard.

He nodded. A simple gesture that conveyed so much, or at least, a gesture that he had poured so much into in the hopes that it would convey even half of its true heavy meaning.

Oswald took that gesture, trying to read everything that was implied in it, and hoping his response would give back just as much as he had received, and he nodded back.

They both turned around and quickly begun to walk in their own separate ways.

This wasn't the end of this. Both of them hoped, wished, and just simply _swore_ to themselves. They wouldn't let this be the end of it.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Ooh boy. Okay i will admit it. This almost turned into smut lmao BUT i didn't want to have them fucking out there in some shitty alley. AND because in canon they just quietly got away with no follow up from the Court so i was like uhh?? Where the hell is everyone and why isn't anybody chasing them? lmao
> 
> Anyway. I've been wanting to write this for a long time, like i said. Why now? In all honestly i'm stalling 'cos i'm having troubles with another Oswald/Edward fic i'm trying to write. Procrastinating from writing a fic by writing a different fic?? What? I can't hear you, gotta go, bye~


End file.
